Anderson County and its county seat were named for Revolutionary
War General Robert Anderson (1741-1812). This region was occupied by the
Cherokee Indians until 1777, when it was ceded by treaty to the state. Part
of the "Indian Land" became Pendleton District (also called
Washington District at one time). The area was given its present name in
1826, when Pendleton District was split into Anderson and Pickens. Most of
the early settlers of this area were Scotch-Irish farmers who moved south from
Pennsylvania and Virginia in the eighteenth century. The oldest town in the
county is Pendleton, which was founded around 1790; it became a popular
summer resort for lowcountry planters in the nineteenth century. Some famous
residents of Anderson County were U.S. Senator and South Carolina Governor
Olin D. Johnston (1896-1965), business leader Charles E. Daniel (1895-1964),
and composer Lily Strickland (1884-1958).